I Don't Understand
by The Dark Crimson Blood
Summary: In the world today, children struggle with large amounts homework that they just can't finish. #4 Of 'The World Today' series.


**Author**: The Dark Crimson Blood  
**Story Title**: I Don't Understand  
**Characters**: Luffy, Ace  
**Genres**: Angst, Tragedy  
**Words**: 1,347  
**Summary**: In the world today, children struggle with large amounts homework that they just can't finish.  
**Ask me anything**: ask . fm / CherryLynnn

**#4 Of 'The World Today' series**

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**He just doesn't understand the words written down on the paper.**

**Frustration**.

A frustrated groan echoes through a small bedroom. A child slams his head on the table and the pencil in his hands drop to the ground. He runs his hands through his hair in an attempt to save himself from an oncoming headache. He crumbles yet another piece of paper and sends it to the ground, missing the already full paper bin by mere inches.

He bites his lip as he stares at the problem written down on the paper. He doesn't understand, it's hard, and he doesn't know how to solve it! He can't ask anyone else for help, and it's just not fair! His parents were too busy with work, his older brother too busy with high school, and the teacher... The teacher refused to take the time out of her day to teach the one student who was falling behind.

He hits himself in the head, asking himself the same questions over and over again.

"Why am I so stupid?"  
"Why don't I understand?"  
"Is there something wrong with me?"

He wipes his watering eyes and tries his best to prevent any more tears. He shouldn't be crying, he should know this!

Why was this all so hard to do?

**Worry.**

Luffy sits up, rubbing his eyes and scanning over the large amount of paper and books scattered in unorganized piles across his chest. The homework wasn't even halfway done, and yet it was already thirty five minutes past midnight. Even his parents were sleeping right now and yet here he was, sitting at his desk with the lights on and his door locked.

He sits up and rubs his eyes, scanning over the large amount of papers and books resting on the desk in front of him. His homework wasn't even halfway done, and yet it was already far past his bedtime. It was all just so hard! There was so much to do and it seemed to get worse every day!

What if he fails?

What if he fails a test, or a got an F on a grade, or what if he failed out of school altogether? It would all be because he couldn't finish his homework like everyone else!

Then what about his parents?

He couldn't even begin to imagine just how disappointed they would be in him.

They always expected the best out of him, so how would they react to this? Would they abandon him, or hate him, or even kick him out of the family? They wouldn't love him anymore and they wouldn't even care about him anymore!

He just doesn't want to disappoint anyone.

**Denial.**

He shakes his head furiously, dropping his hands to the ground and finally stopping his tears. Surly, surly this was the exhaustion talking. He was just tired, that's why he couldn't do his homework properly.

Or, or maybe the teacher gave him the wrong homework! That could happen, right? He's never heard of it before, but it's a possibility, right? The teacher just made a mistake and he could just sleep it off and tell her tomorrow, right?

So really, he was just worrying for nothing.

He runs his eyes back over his desk. Yeah, this was way too much homework for a mere fifth grader. How was he expected to complete it all in the first place? Besides, why did he have to know this stuff in the first place? When was he ever going to use these equations in real life? When was he ever going to need to understand such complicated words?

He shoves the paper off of his desk and moves from his seat, turning off his light and heading towards his bed. He doesn't even bother to change from the school clothing he had been wearing since the very moment he got home.

It was obvious at this point.

All he needs to do is go to sleep, and everything would be fine.

Right?

**Acceptance.**  
As he lies in his bed, unable to fall asleep as the cold air runs in through the window, he sighs. The thought of his unfinished homework lying on the ground continued to haunt his mind and prevent him from sleeping. Something within him knew that there had been no mistake, that this was actually his homework.

That he should actually know this.

Maybe, maybe he should just give up. He was never good at this anyway, he never liked school in the first place. He wasn't good at sitting still for long periods of time and listening as the teachers droned on and on about subjects he couldn't really focus on wasn't really his thing either.

If it wasn't his thing, then why not quit?

What was the point in continuing in something he knew he'd fail in? Why continue to do something you don't like? He already knew what the consequences were, and if things continued, they'd only get worse.

So he'll give up.

It's as easy as that.

**Ending**.

It's two in the morning, and the bags underneath Luffy's eyes have gotten worse, the bed is neatly made and Luffy is completely absent from it. He scatters around his room, stuffing bits of clothing and stashed food into his bag. In the end, he knew what would happen.

His parents and his brother were bound to hate him and then they'd throw him out, so the earlier he leaves the better.

He was never going to get better anyway, if he didn't understand any of now then he probably never would. With one easy pull, the window opens completely and his bag is dropped out of the window and a child soon follows. He's a bit too close to the wall.

His room is on the second floor.

He quite doesn't make the landing.

**Conclusion.**

That morning, Ace walks into his brothers room and notices three things. There are papers everywhere, scattered around the room as if they've been blown by the wind for hours, The second thing is that the window's open, and the third is the wording on the wall.

He reads it out loud.

"I don't understand."

He blinks, suddenly running his eyes over the multiple papers scattered on the ground. Every paper he picks up is covered in angry eraser marks and leftover lines of writing that had once taken the form of proper words. Eraser shavings rest on the surface of his desk, and suddenly Ace feels as if he should start helping Luffy with his homework rather than spend time with his friends.

However as he moves to close the window, he gets a glimpse of the outside.

It's at that moment that Ace realizes that it's too late to help.

It's far too late.

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**A/N:** When I was a child, I loved school. I think it changed somewhere in fourth grade when math started getting harder and the teacher kept continuing even though I didn't understand. So, I'd rub my eyes until they were red and the teacher would send me to the nurse.

To this very day I still remember staring down at the paper and just not understanding. I remember getting frustrated when the people who tried to help be made it seem as if it were the easiest thing in the world. I'm sixteen now, and I STILL have problems with math. It just gets harder and harder :/

While we're on this subject, tell me how you feel about this story :)


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